SK Flashback: Rahul Dravid's masterclass in Jamaica

Rahul Dravid was well supported by Anil Kumble in the first innings

A dominant India toured a toothless West Indies in 2006, to play five One Day Internationals and four Tests. The hosts, who were ruled out by pundits and the like, sprung up a surprise as they beat India 4-1 in coloured clothes. But the results of the Tests boiled down to the fourth and final Test at Kingston, Jamaica.

The first three Tests were laboriously drawn, and India were desperate to register their first series win in the Caribbean in 35 years by winning the final one.

The Indian batsmen needed to be mentally strong while facing West Indian bowlers at the Sabina Park, given the fact that the pitch offered abundant assistance to both the spinners and the pacers.

In a batting line-up boasting of performers like Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, it was only Rahul Dravid who rose to the challenges imposed by the pitch.

Captain Dravid won the toss and elected to bat. However, he would not have expected to arrive at the crease as early as he did.

India were 2/3 in the fourth over when Dravid walked in. With him on one end, his second fiddles kept departing on meagre scores. The wickets kept falling one after the other as the Wall produced the first part of his sensational knock.

Dravid unleashed a variety of carefully chosen shots which unsettled the opponents, just what India needed at the time of crisis. He scored 81 off 215 deliveries, showing exemplary patience. Towards the tail-end, Kumble partnered Dravid and contribute 45 from 101 balls from the other end. India were all out for 200, with Dravid top-scoring.

With Kumble, he added 93 before the lower order crumbled in the space of eight overs and for the addition of 16 runs.

When the hosts came out to bat, they suffered a big blow as opener Chris Gayle was dismissed for a duck by Sreesanth. West Indies were 0-1 in 0.4 overs. Their greatest player of all time, Brian Lara, also departed on 26 from 50 after being bamboozled by Sreesanth.

But what unfurled in the remainder of the innings was the magic of Harbhajan Singh. His 5/13 in 4.3 overs stunned the hosts as India claimed a lead of 97, with the Windies bowled out for 103.

Captain Dravid with the winning trophy

This was followed by another masterclass from Dravid, which hasn’t faded away even after years.

On a deteriorating pitch, a score of over 200 would have put the West Indies batsmen in a major spot of bother. For the Indian batsmen, much of the innings was a repetition of the first one. Jaffer walked back on 1, Sehwag on 4 and Laxman on 16. Once again hopes were high from Dravid who came out to bat when India were down to 21-3.

Again, with the skipper at one end, batsmen at other kept departing one after the other. Yuvraj got out for 13, Mohammad Kaif for 6, MS Dhoni for 19, and this time, Kumble too couldn’t provide support to Dravid as he walked back after adding 10 runs. Harbhajan and Sreesanth scored 9 and 16 respectively and the 11th man Munaf Patel was ducked.

India collectively scored 171, out of which 68 came from Dravid’s bat. He hit 12 boundaries in the process and remained not out. The target for the hosts to chase was 269, and India were close to scripting a historic win on the back of Dravid’s back to back sensational knocks.

Interestingly, even for the Indian bowlers, the fourth innings was similar to the second one. Sreesanth removed Gayle in his first over for a duck and then clean bowled Daren Ganga. Thereafter, it was the Anil Kumble show, who ran through the batting and returned with figures of 6/78 in 22.4 overs as India won their first series in the Caribbean after 35 years.

Dravid has produced some scintillating Test knocks in his glorious career. But these two were special for the effortless manner in which, on a minefield, in a do-or-die match, he tilted the game in his team's favour.